Des Moines Register
08-02-06
Roadwork, heat, rain greet Ames' off-campus tenants
Despite the obstacles, Iowa State students move into Ames apartments.
By JEFF LEWIS
REGISTER CORRESPONDENT
Ames, Ia. — It was push, pull, drag and lift Tuesday as students moved into offcampus apartments in Ames while city construction forced many students to
seek alternative routes to their new homes.
"It's pretty stressful," said Ethan Whited, a 21-year-old Iowa State University
junior from Ames.
In 2005, 13,484 students, or about 52 percent, lived in off-campus housing in
Ames. The university does not yet have estimates for how many students will live
off-campus in 2006.
Leases for many of the off-campus apartments started Tuesday, which was Aug.
1. Many students moving into the Campustown area braved rain, heat, humidity
and construction to get their belongings into their new homes.
Roadwork on Lincoln Way forced people to take Sheldon or Beach avenues to
get into Campustown south of Lincoln Way.
Whited rode his bike from his apartment to help his friends Jake Goff and Adam
Lewis, both 22, move into an apartment on Stanton Avenue. He said the number
of moving vans in the area made it an interesting ride.
"I had to dodge a bunch of trucks to get here," he said "Close to campus, it gets
tricky."
But not everyone was frustrated with the construction.
Lewis, an ISU senior, said the construction hadn't caused him any problems
while moving in, but added he had just started moving.
Russ McCullough, co-owner of Ev Cochrane and Associates, which operates
several properties in Campustown, said the work on Lincoln Way was little more
than an inconvenience to students moving in.
"People just had to go around," he said. "I haven't heard anyone complaining
about it."
He attributed it to the mindset of college students, which he said was to be
flexible.
"That's the way college students are," he said. "You just work with it."
A Clive family got an early start to the day, arriving in Ames at 7 a.m. to avoid the
traffic from the roadwork.
"It wasn't that bad of a deal as we thought it was going to be," Jerry Foxhoven
said.
Foxhoven, along with his wife, Julie, helped son Tony move into an apartment on
Stanton Avenue.
Although it rained during the morning, it didn't cause too much of a disruption for
the family. During a break in the clouds a little before 2 p.m., Tony Foxhoven, an
ISU sophomore studying political science, carried a miniature skeleton —
adorned in Mardi Gras beads and its mouth clenching a rose — dubbed "Bob,
the mascot for good times" into his new apartment.
The idea behind Bob in one way symbolized the family's attitude - they were in
good spirits despite the heat.
City officials have said they expect roadwork on Lincoln Way to be done in time
for students returning to residence halls in the middle of August.